Lens and airplane warning light

Abstract

To provide a lens and an airplane warning light that can control light to be emitted.SOLUTION: A lens 31 comprises a first incidence surface 44, a second incidence surface 45, a third incidence surface 47, a first emission surface 50, and a second emission surface 51. The first incidence surface 44 has a cylindrical shape, and light from a light emitting element 36 is incident thereon. The second incidence surface 45 is provided in a surface on a deep side opposed to the light emitting element 36 via the inside of the first incidence surface 44, and the light from the light emitting element 36 is incident thereon. The third incidence surface 47 has a convex shape toward the second incidence surface 45, and the light incident from the second incidence surface 45 is incident thereon. The first emission surface 50 has a convex curved surface shape, and the light incident on the first incidence surface 44 is emitted to the outside therefrom. The light incident on the third incidence surface 47 is emitted to the outside from the second emission surface 51.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention relates to a lens and an aviation obstruction light. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, marker lights, including aviation obstacle lights, use optical components with a reflective surface provided with a metal vapor deposition layer to emit light from a light-emitting element in a direction perpendicular to the direction facing the light-emitting element. Such optical components are time-consuming to manufacture, and it is not possible to control the light from the light-emitting element that does not enter the reflective surface and is emitted. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4587847 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a lens and an aircraft obstruction light that can control the emitted light. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The lens of the embodiment includes a first entrance surface, a second entrance surface, a third entrance surface, a first exit surface, and a second exit surface. The first entrance surface is cylindrical and receives light from the light-emitting element. The second entrance surface is provided on the inner surface of the first entrance surface, facing the light-emitting element, and receives light from the light-emitting element. The third entrance surface is convex toward the second entrance surface and receives light incident from the second entrance surface. The first exit surface is a convex curved surface and emits light incident on the first entrance surface to the outside. The second exit surface emits light incident on the third entrance surface to the outside. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the embodiment, it is expected that the emitted light can be controlled. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an aviation obstruction light showing one embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same aviation obstruction light. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a light distribution diagram illustrating light control by the lens of the same aircraft obstruction light. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a light distribution diagram showing the light distribution of the same aircraft obstruction light. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] An embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0009] To ensure the safety of aircraft navigation, aviation obstruction lights are installed on structures at a height of 60m or more above ground or water surface. There are two types of aviation obstruction lights: low-altitude obstruction lights that emit a constant light, and medium-altitude obstruction lights that emit a bright, dimming light.

[0010] 1 to 3 show an aircraft obstruction light 10. The aircraft obstruction light 10 comprises a lamp body 11 which is a housing, and a light source unit 12 installed on top of the lamp body 11.

[0011] The lighting body 11 comprises a lower lighting body 20 that is installed at a predetermined installation location on a building, and an upper lighting body 21 that is attached to the upper part of the lower lighting body 20. The upper lighting body 21 has a cylindrical tube portion 22, and a threaded portion 23 for threadably attaching the light source unit 12 to the outer periphery of the upper end of the tube portion 22 is provided. A light source mounting member 24 is attached to the inside of the top opening of the upper lighting body 21, and a light source mounting base portion 25 protrudes upward from the center of the light source mounting member 24.

[0012] The light source unit 12 also includes a light source module 30, a lens 31, a globe 32 that covers the light source module 30 and the lens 31 and is attached to the upper lamp body 21, and a power supply unit 33 that supplies lighting power to the light source module.

[0013] The light source module 30 has a light emitting element 36 mounted at the center of the upper surface of a disk-shaped substrate 35. The lower surface of the substrate 35 is placed on the light source mounting base 25 and fixed with screws. The light emitting element 36 may be, for example, a surface-mounted LED or a chip-shaped LED. The light emitting element 36 emits light in a vertical angle range of 0° to 90°, with the direction parallel to the upper surface of the substrate 35 being the vertical angle of 0°. One or more (e.g., five or ten) light emitting elements 36 are used depending on the required brightness of the aviation obstruction light 10. When more than one light emitting element 36 is used, they are densely arranged in the center of the substrate 35 and configured as a single pseudo light source.

[0014] 2 to 4, the lens 31 is integrally formed from, for example, a transparent resin such as acrylic resin, glass, etc. The lens 31 includes a lens portion 38 that controls the light from the light-emitting element 36, and a plurality of attachment portions 39 that attach the lens portion 38 to the light source attachment member 24.

[0015] The lens portion 38 is formed in a rotationally symmetric shape around a lens central axis 40 (see FIG. 4). The lens central axis 40 coincides with the lamp central axis passing through the center of the lamp body 11 in the vertical direction and with the light source optical axis, which is the light source central axis extending from the center of the light emitting element 36 or pseudo light source of the light source module 30 in a direction perpendicular to the substrate 35.

[0016] The lens portion 38 has a first lens portion 41 which is approximately hemispherical and has a flat lower surface, which is the opposing surface facing the light source module 30, and a second lens portion 42 which has a smaller diameter than the first lens portion 41 and protrudes upward from the upper surface of the first lens portion 41.

[0017] The lens unit 38 (first lens unit 41) has a cylindrical first recess 43 centered on the lens central axis 40 in the center of its lower surface, which is the surface facing the light source module 30. The lower surface of the first recess 43 is open, and a cylindrical first incident surface 44 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the first recess 43. A second incident surface 45 is formed on the upper surface, which is the surface at the back of the first recess 43 facing the light emitting element 36 through the inside of the first incident surface 44. The first incident surface 44 is formed as an inclined surface that widens downward so that the diameter at the lower end, which is the opening side of the first recess 43, is smaller than the diameter at the upper end, which is the back side. The second incident surface 45 is formed as a convex curved surface centered on the lens central axis 40 within the first recess 43 and protruding inward from the first incident surface 44.

[0018] When the lens 31 is combined with the light source module 30, at least the upper side of the light-emitting element 36 that emits light is positioned inside the first recess 43 (first incident surface 44), and all of the light (direct light) emitted from the light-emitting element 36 is incident on the first incident surface 44 and the second incident surface 45.

[0019] A second recess 46 is formed on the upper surface of the lens portion 38 (second lens portion 42), with the second recess 46 being centered on the lens central axis 40. The second recess 46 is formed in a truncated cone shape with the lens central axis 40 as its center and the diameter of which decreases toward the second entrance surface 45.

[0020] A third incident surface 47 is formed above the second incident surface 45, at the boundary with the second recess 46, onto which light that enters the second incident surface 45 and transmits through the lens portion 38 enters. The third incident surface 47 is convex toward the second incident surface 45 and has a truncated cone shape centered on the lens central axis 40 and tapering in diameter toward the second incident surface 45. The third incident surface 47 has an inclined surface 48 formed of a conical circumferential surface tapering in diameter toward the second incident surface 45, and a tip surface 49 of the inclined surface 48 facing the second incident surface 45. The inclined surface 48 is provided at an angle of 45° or greater with respect to a direction perpendicular to the lens central axis 40 so that light that enters the third incident surface 47 from the second incident surface 45 is totally reflected. The tip surface 49 is formed as a flat surface perpendicular to the lens central axis 40, a convex curved surface facing the second incident surface 45, or the like.

[0021] The second entrance surface 45 and the third entrance surface 47 are not provided with a metal vapor deposition layer or the like, and are in direct contact with the air layer, forming a boundary surface with different refractive indices between the material layer of the lens portion 38 and the external air layer.

[0022] On the outer peripheral surface of the lens portion 38, on the lower side surrounding the first incident surface 44, there is provided a first exit surface 50 through which light incident on the first incident surface 44 exits to the outside, and on the upper side surrounding the third incident surface 47, there is provided a second exit surface 51 through which light incident on the third incident surface 47 exits to the outside.

[0023] First exit surface 50 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of first lens portion 41 in the shape of a convex curve, such as an ellipse or a quadratic curve, along lens central axis 40. At first exit surface 50, light incident on first exit surface 50 from first entrance surface 44 is emitted in a direction at a vertical angle of approximately 0°, with the direction perpendicular to lens central axis 40 being defined as a vertical angle of 0°, due to the light bending action at the boundary surface between the material layer of lens portion 38 and the air layer, which have different refractive indices.

[0024] Second exit surface 51 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of second lens portion 42 in the shape of a convex curve, such as an ellipse or a quadratic curve, along lens central axis 40. At second exit surface 51, due to the light bending action at the boundary surface between the material layer of lens portion 38 and the air layer, which have different refractive indices, light that is totally reflected at third entrance surface 47 and enters second exit surface 51 is emitted in a direction at a vertical angle of around 0°, slightly larger than that of first exit surface 50.

[0025] In this embodiment, both first exit surface 50 and second exit surface 51 are curved surfaces, and the radius of the curved surface of first exit surface 50 is configured to be smaller than the radius of the curved surface of the second exit surface. Note that the radius of the curved surface of first exit surface 50 may be configured to be larger than the radius of the curved surface of the second exit surface, or the radius of the curved surface of first exit surface 50 and the radius of the curved surface of the second exit surface may be configured to be the same.

[0026] An end surface 49 of the second recess 46 (third incident surface 47) is configured as a third exit surface 52 through which light traveling along the lens central axis 40 is emitted to the outside.

[0027] Mounting portions 39 of the lens 31 are provided at multiple locations around the periphery of the underside of the lens portion 38. The mounting portions 39 include legs 53 that protrude downward from the underside of the lens portion 38 and fixing portions 54 that protrude outward from the legs. The fixing portions 54 are fixed to the upper surface of the light source mounting member 24 with screws 55.

[0028] The light source module 30 and the lens 31 are positioned via the light source mounting members 24 attached to them, so that the light source optical axis (light source central axis) of the light source module 30 is aligned with the lens central axis 40, and at least the upper side of the light-emitting element 36 that emits light is positioned inside the first recess 43 (first incident surface 44).

[0029] The globe 32 is integrally formed from a translucent material, such as a resin material. The globe 32 has a circular upper surface 57 and a cylindrical peripheral surface 58 extending downward from the periphery of the upper surface 57, forming a cap-like shape with an open bottom. A diffusion portion 59 is provided from the periphery of the upper surface 57 to the inner surface of the peripheral surface 58, diffusing light emitted from the first and second exit surfaces 50 and 51 of the lens 31 in the horizontal direction. The center of the upper surface 57 is not provided with the diffusion portion 59, allowing light emitted from the third exit surface 52 of the lens 31 to pass through. A threaded portion 60 is formed at the lower end of the peripheral surface 58, which is threadedly engaged with the threaded portion 23 of the upper lamp body 21. The diffusion portion 59 is formed, for example, by arranging a plurality of prisms, each having a substantially triangular cross section in the horizontal direction, along the circumferential direction of the peripheral surface 58.

[0030] The power supply unit 33 also converts external power supplied through a power line drawn into the lower lighting body 20 into a predetermined lighting power and supplies it to the light source module 30 to light the light emitting element 36 .

[0031] Next, light control by the lens 31 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0032] When the light emitting element 36 is turned on, the light (direct light) emitted from the light emitting element 36 is incident on the first incident surface 44 and the second incident surface 45.

[0033] Light that is incident on first entrance surface 44 is refracted at an angle according to the angle of incidence on first entrance surface 44, passes through lens portion 38, and is incident on first exit surface 50. Light that is incident on first exit surface 50 is refracted at an angle according to the angle of incidence on first exit surface 50, and is emitted in a direction at a vertical angle of approximately 0°.

[0034] Light that is incident on second entrance surface 45 outside the vicinity of lens central axis 40 is refracted at an angle corresponding to the angle of incidence on second entrance surface 45, passes through lens unit 38, and is incident on third entrance surface 47. The light that is incident on third entrance surface 45 is totally reflected at an angle corresponding to the angle of incidence on second entrance surface 45, passes through lens unit 38, and is incident on second exit surface 51. The light that is incident on second exit surface 51 is refracted at an angle corresponding to the angle of incidence on second exit surface 51, and is emitted in a direction at a vertical angle of around 0° and a slightly larger angle than first exit surface 50.

[0035] Light incident on the second entrance surface 45 near the lens central axis 40 passes through the lens portion 38 along the lens central axis 40 and exits from the third exit surface 52 in a direction at a vertical angle of about 90°.

[0036] Fig. 5 shows a light distribution diagram of the aircraft obstruction light 10. The solid line in Fig. 5 is a light distribution curve of the standard light distribution characteristics that require a luminous intensity of 100 cd or more in the vertical angle range of -3 to 10°, and the dashed line is a light distribution curve when the lens 31 of this embodiment is used.

[0037] As can be seen from FIG. 5, when the lens 31 of this embodiment is used, the standard for light distribution characteristics required for an aircraft obstruction light 10 can be satisfied.

[0038] In this way, the lens 31 can receive all the light emitted from the light-emitting element 36 and control all the light that leaves it. Therefore, by using the lens 31, it becomes possible for the aircraft obstruction light 10 to satisfy the standards for light distribution characteristics.

[0039] Moreover, since such a light distribution can be obtained without providing a metal vapor deposition layer on the lens 31, the lens 31 can be easily manufactured at low cost.

[0040] Furthermore, since third entrance surface 47 has inclined surface 48 facing second entrance surface 45 , light incident from second entrance surface 45 can travel toward second exit surface 51 .

[0041] Third entrance surface 47 is formed in a truncated cone shape that narrows toward second entrance surface 45, so that light can also be emitted in a direction along lens central axis 40. Furthermore, because third entrance surface 47 has a truncated cone shape, the manufacturability of lens 31 can be improved compared to when the tip side is a cone shape with an acute angle.

[0042] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 10. Aviation Obstruction Lights 31 Lens 32 Gloves 36 Light-emitting element 44 1st entrance plane 45 Second entrance plane 47 Third entrance plane 50 First exit surface 51 Second exit surface

Claims

1. a cylindrical first incident surface onto which light from the light-emitting element is incident; a second incident surface provided on a surface facing the light emitting element through the inside of the first incident surface, on a rear side, into which light from the light emitting element is incident; a third incident surface that is convex toward the second incident surface and onto which the light incident from the second incident surface is incident; a first exit surface having a convex curved surface shape through which light incident on the first entrance surface is emitted to the outside; a second exit surface through which the light incident on the third entrance surface is emitted to the outside; A lens characterized by comprising:

2. The second light exit surface is a convex curved surface, and the radius of curvature of the second light exit surface is larger than the radius of curvature of the first light exit surface.

2. The lens of claim 1.

3. The third entrance surface is provided in a truncated cone shape whose diameter decreases toward the second entrance surface.

2. The lens of claim 1.

4. The outer surfaces of the second and third incident surfaces are free of a deposition layer and are in contact with an air layer.

2. The lens of claim 1.

5. a light-emitting element; A lens according to any one of claims 1 to 4; a light-transmitting globe containing the light-emitting element and the lens; An aviation obstruction light characterized by comprising:

6. The light-emitting element is a plurality of 6. An aircraft obstruction light according to claim 5.

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